Through the Veil and Back Again
by Theoretical-Optimist
Summary: George struggles to move on without Fred and strives to develop a method to communicate with him again. Written for Bonus Round 3 of The Houses Competition (year two)


House: Gryffindor

Position: HoH

Bonus Round 3

Theme: 2 - Achieving a goal

Prompt: Getting sucked into a new world, (not including finding out you are a witch/wizard), like Jumanji

Word Count: 1624

Betas: Tigger and Shibalyfe

* * *

The Burrow was a flurry of life, but George wanted nothing to do with it. He humored his mother by attending a family dinner, but, in truth, he just wanted to be holed up in the small flat above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The flat he shared with… the flat he lived in. Alone.

He knew his family meant well. But it was just too painful to be around them and not feel the absence of Fred. The rest of his family missed Fred, but it just wasn't the same. George could see them moving on with their lives.

George felt like he'd been ripped in half and couldn't make sense of what remained.

"C'mon George," encouraged Ginny. "Join us for a game?"

George shook his head. "I don't feel like playing."

"It'll be fun, George. I'll even let you beat me at Wizard's Chess if you want," Ron offered.

"No," George refused. "I don't feel like playing chess."

"We've got some Muggle games too," Harry said. "Monopoly is quite fun. Or we've got Twister for something a little more athletic. Or the Ouija board."

"Harry," Hermione hissed. "Ouija is a terrible idea."

"What's Wee-Ga?" asked Ginny.

Harry looked ashamed as he explained, "It's a silly party game. It's supposed to let people communicate with the departed. It was completely inappropriate for me to have suggested it. Let's just play Monopoly. That'll be great."

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry looked at George with hope in their eyes.

George knew what they wanted: for him to agree to join in their game and be his joyful, happy, normal self. But nothing was normal anymore.

But the Ouija game had given George an idea of how to get back to normal.

"I'm just going to go home," George said.

He quickly exited the room despite the pleas to stay. He gave his mother a quick hug and Flooed back to his flat.

For the first time since the final battle, George unlocked the room that he and Fred had used to develop their tricks and gags. He swept the supplies off of the desk and pulled out a piece of parchment.

' _Communication Beyond the Veil,_ ' he wrote.

Pulling down a Charms textbook, George got to work.

* * *

George leaned back in his chair and blew out a shaky breath.

He'd done it.

Months and months of trial and error had finally paid off and George had a functional Ouija Board. A magical one that could actually be used to talk to someone who had passed away. Someone who had died. Someone like Fred.

George took a calming breath and braced his hands on the planchette.

"Fred?" he asked cautiously. "Fred can you hear me?"

For a moment, the world stopped turning. George held perfectly still, waiting for a message to come across.

"Freddie? I need to talk to you. I need you to talk to me," George whispered. "I need you."

George stared down at the board. His eyes glazed over with emotion and he couldn't stop a solitary tear from dropping down his cheek and falling to the board.

George watched as the teardrop rippled across the board. Oddly, the tear seemed to be shimmering and expanding.

"Fred!" he exclaimed, hopefully.

But Fred didn't reply.

Instead, the single tear engulfed the entire board in a swirling haze. Cautiously, George dipped one finger into the misty liquid and felt his entire body being sucked through a portal.

* * *

George wasn't sure how much time passed. It could have been an instant or it might have been a year.

Hitting the ground with the speed of a locomotive, George laid perfectly still for a moment. Slowly, he picked up his head and glanced around.

' _How did I get outside?_ ' he thought as he observed his storefront. Standing, he brushed off his clothing and observed Diagon Alley.

It looked different from any time he had seen the busy shopping street before. Instead of the usual shopping crowds and chatter, the alley was cloaked in an eerie silence. George couldn't see a single shopper milling about.

George figured that he must have fallen asleep in front of the Ouija Board and walked outside in a trace. Diagon Alley was always quieter in the middle of the night, he rationalized.

But the warmth of the sun on his skin seemed to contradict his assumption. George tilted his head up to the sky, expecting to see fluffy clouds on a bright blue backdrop. He was shocked to find a swirling mist that enveloped the alley in a bubble.

"What?" George questioned aloud.

"Hi, Georgie."

George spun around so quickly he nearly lost his balance and fell over. Fred was leaning against the doorway of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"Fred!" George cried. "Fred, you're back." He rushed to embrace his twin in a bone crushing hug.

Fred hugged him back and patted his shoulder as George sobbed into his chest. "I'm here, George. I'm here."

George pulled back and grabbed his brother's hand. "We've got to go, Fred. We've got to get to the Burrow. Everyone will be so happy that you're alive. Mum will—"

Fred cut him off. "I'm dead, George."

George shook his head. "What? No, you're right here with me. I brought you back with that board. I didn't think it would work like that. I thought I'd just be able to talk to you."

Fred smiled. "And that's exactly what you achieved. I'm dead, but you can be here with me for a little while."

"You're not dead. You're right in front of me." George slammed his palms into Fred's chest. "I can touch you. If you weren't here, if this were like a Pensieve, my hands would pass right through you."

"This isn't like a Pensieve, George," Fred said gently. "We're beyond the veil."

George withdrew his hands as though he'd been burned. "We can't be! Harry said that when he died, the veil was like King's Cross Station. This is Diagon Alley!"

Fred shrugged. "I suppose it depends on who the visitor is. Besides, you aren't being given the option of transitioning on today so there's no need for transportation."

George felt his legs go weak. "How is this possible?"

Fred grinned. "Of course it's possible. You're such a brilliant inventor that it shouldn't be a shock that you figured out a way to communicate with the dead. It's what you wanted when you set out to design that board, isn't it?"

George nodded. "Yeah. I just can't believe that this is the way it works. Wait until I tell everyone! So many people are going to want to visit you. And all the others that died too! It'll be great."

"You can't do that, Georgie," Fred said.

"Of course I can," George replied. "It'll be like you aren't gone at all."

"But I am gone. I'm dead and I belong beyond the veil. You're alive and need to remember to keep living."

"How am I supposed to live without you? We're Gred and Forge, the dynamic duo. Who am I without you?"

Fred stared deep into George's eyes. George had never seen him look so serious before. "You're going to find out who you are, I promise. You've got so many people who want to help you do that. Mum and Dad, all our siblings, Harry, Hermione. Owl Katie and Angie while you're at it. But you need to stop living in the past. You can't visit me again," Fred commanded.

"Of course I'm going to come back," George protested. "Now that I have this board working, I'll come back and visit all the time. You're right that I have people to help me, but you're all alone here." George gestured down the vacant alley.

"I'm not alone," Fred said.

George watched as the misty Diagon Alley sprung to life. Or death as the case may have been.

"George!" called a voice from Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor.

He spun around to find Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and a witch and wizard that he'd never met but immediately recognized as Harry's parents waving at him.

"I'm not alone here," Fred said. "Just like you're not alone in your world."

George's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm going to miss you, Freddy."

"That's ok," he replied. "I'll miss you too. But you can't let that stop you from enjoying life. And besides, I'll always be with you."

"Yeah?" George asked.

Fred nodded. "Right in here." He placed his hand over George's heart and gave him a firm shove.

George crashed backwards into the swirling vortex that had brought him beyond the veil. Instantly, he slammed into his desk chair and promptly toppled over.

He panted as he called out, "Fred! What the hell, Fred?"

George swore he could hear his twin's chuckle.

He glanced down at the Ouija Board on his desk. The tear that had generated the portal had either dried up or run off. However, he knew that he could recreate the circumstances that allowed him to visit beyond the veil.

But Fred had told him not to. Even if George wasn't ready to trust in his own ability to live without Fred, Fred seemed confident that George was capable.

George felt his heart warm and sensed Fred's presence.

He quickly gathered the supplies and notes that he'd used to construct the Ouija Board. Laying them on the desk, he cast Incendio and watched his work - his connection to Fred beyond the veil - erupt in a pile of flame and smoke.

He watched the fire flicker and was relieved. Not only had he achieved a method of communicating with the dead, but was finally able to start moving on and rejoin the world of the living.

George felt at peace.


End file.
